Introduction

Some explanation here about the context about food waste, and parts involved…

Probably combine it with the next section.

Municipal Solid Waste

Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) —more commonly known as trash or garbage— “consists of everyday items we use and then throw away, such as product packaging, grass clippings, furniture, clothing, bottles, food scraps, newspapers, appliances, paint, and batteries. This comes from our homes, schools, hospitals, and businesses.” (Source: EPA)

Every year, the US produces a total of 292.4 million tons of Municipal Solid Waste, 732,614 tons of which are produced in Delaware alone.

This equates to 10,442,857 heavy tonnage trucks per year in the case of the US, and to 26,165 for Delaware.

Individual contribution (average)

Surplus food is “All food that goes unsold or unused by a business or that goes uneaten at home – including food and inedible parts (e.g., peels, pits, bones) that are donated, fed to animals, repurposed to produce other products, composted, anaerobically digested, or wasted.” (ReFED, Insights Engine Glossary, p.1).

Surplus food

Surplus food is “All food that goes unsold or unused by a business or that goes uneaten at home – including food and inedible parts (e.g., peels, pits, bones) that are donated, fed to animals, repurposed to produce other products, composted, anaerobically digested, or wasted.” (ReFED, Insights Engine Glossary, p.1).

On the consumer level, individuals in the U.S. throw out nearly 25% of the food they bring into their homes. This amounts to a whopping 20 pounds of edible food wasted every single month

Food waste equivalences

While at first sight, this might seem neglibile at an individual level, figures per household and nationwide tell us otherwise: The costs of food waste are very high in terms of money and weight

Environmental impacts of food waste

Food waste has considerable impacts on the environment in terms of carbon and water footprint.

Carbon footprint: definition and units

Water footprint: definition and units

The cost of food waste

The cost of surplus food is estimated at $398 billion per year, with 70% of that cost paying for waste management.

If we exclude the surplus food generated on the farm and during manufacturing, the total surplus food produced by consumers, foodservice, and retail sectors is 53 million tons per year, or 324.6 pounds per person, and costing $350 billion. The U.S. EPA set a goal of reducing food waste disposed by 50% by 2030. Using a 2010 baseline estimate of 219 pounds per person (post-processing), that means a goal of disposing 109 pounds per person. The U.S. is far from reaching its 2030 food waste goal.

How is surplus food managed?

There are three different primary management pathways for surplus food:

1. Donated to food banks or otherwise “rescued”
2. Recycled such as through composting, feed for animals, anaerobic digestion, or industrial use
3. Wasted food is “Uneaten food and inedible parts that end up being landfilled, incinerated, disposed of down the sewer, dumped, spread onto land, or simply not harvested.” (ReFED, Insights Engine Glossary, p.2)

Where is wasted food going to?

More than half of the food waste goes to Landfills. A notable difference from Delaware is that food is the lack of incineration.

How is surplus food managed? (Another option)

NOTE: This is a combination of the two previous slides. I particularly think this one is better.

There are three different primary management pathways for surplus food:

1. Donated to food banks or otherwise “rescued”
2. Recycled such as through composting, feed for animals, anaerobic digestion, or industrial use
3. Wasted food is “Uneaten food and inedible parts that end up being landfilled, incinerated, disposed of down the sewer, dumped, spread onto land, or simply not harvested.” (Source: ReFED, Insights Engine Glossary, p.2)

Food in landfills

Food waste is the number one material in American landfills, accounting for 24.1 percent of all municipal solid waste (MSW), according to the EPA.

MSW, in turn, accounts for a 21.6% (63.13 million tons) of landfills in the US and 21.06% (154,255 tons) for Delaware.

Landfill and Emissions

As food rots in a landfill, it emits methane, a greenhouse gas 28 to 36 times more potent than the carbon that comes out of passenger vehicles and accelerates climate change. The greenhouse gases that result from food waste produce the equivalent amount of 37 million cars

Landfills are the third-largest industrial emitter of methane, with food waste alone representing 8 percent of total global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. (Source: Rubincon).

In 2007, the global carbon footprint, excluding land-use change, of food waste has been estimated at 3.3 Gtonnes of CO2 eq. This amount is more than twice the total GHG emissions of all USA road transportation in 2010 (Source: FAO).

Landfills and leaks

All landfills leak – some over time and some from day one of operation – leaching toxic chemicals into the ground and the water supply (source)

Landfills: wrap-up

While it is possible to offset the harm derived from foodwaste in landfills through organics recycling, composting, and anaerobic digestion, the best way to reduce these emissions and leaks is to waste less food in the first place.